Apparatus for washing brushes.



UNITED STATES WALTHER VON VIGIER, OF SUBINGEN, SWITZERLAND.

APPARATUS FOR WASHING BRUSHES.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented Jan. 21, 1908.

Application filed January 15. 1907. Serial No. 352.394:-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTHER VON VIGIER, a citizen of the Republic ofSwitzerland, residing at Subingen, in Switzerland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Apparatus for, Washing Brushes; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, and to letters or figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates to improvements in apparatus for washing brushes,particularly those used by artists.

The invention consists in providing a suitable container for the brushesthat may readily be immersed in a suitable receptacle containing acleaning medium; a cleaning brush which normally supports the brushes inthe container; means for injecting the brushes between the bristles ofthe cleaning brush and means for imparting a rotary movement to certainof the parts whereby the brushes are caused to travel between thebristles of the cleaning brush.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood, I will nowdescribe it with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein is shownone form of construction of apparatus embodying my invention.

Figure 1 is an elevation of the apparatus placed in a receptacle. Fig. 2a vertical section of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 a horizontal section on line A, Bof Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 a horizontal section on line C, D of Fig. 1.

a, designates the container open at its lower end and dividedlongitudinally into compartments by partitions b, which latter support ahub c concentrically within the container. A spindle e is mounted in thelower end of the hub and rests in a bearing d formed on a base plate f.A brush preferably formed in two parts g and g rests on the base plateand is held against rotation by means of connecting rods h secured tothe base f and fitting into notches 11 formed in the brush-head.

In the upper end of the hub c is mounted a spindle e held againstrotation therein by a pin 11. on the spindle projecting through slots 0in the upper end of the hub. A spiral spring Z connected to andsurrounding the hub, bears against the underside of the pin u andnormally holds the upper end of. the spindle above the hub andcontainer. A cover k is seated on this spindle and normally held abovethe upper edge of the container thereby, said cover being limited in itsupward movement against the stress of the spring Z by means of theconnecting rods h which have hooks formed on their upper ends takinginto slots 12 formed in the cover. The spindle c has a smaller drivingspindle e fixed therein projecting through the top of the cover andjournaled in bearingsm in a frame m mounted on the cover. This drivingspindle carries a bevel-pinion 0 which meshes with a larger pinion 10carried by a spindle q mounted in the frame and driven by a crank g. Thebrushes are introduced into the several compartments through an openingt by rotating the container to bring each compartment in turn under theopening and said opening may be closed by a door T which is locked bybolts 8.

From the above description it will be understood that the brushes g, gare held against rotation by means of the cover is through theconnecting rods h.

When the brushes to be cleaned have been introduced into the container,they will rest on top of the bristles of the brushes g and 9 as shown inFig. 1; the container is then placed in a suitable receptacle such as w,which contains a cleansing substance, preferably soap and water.Pressure being exerted on frame m, by one hand of the operator, thebrushes are forced down between the bristles as shown in Fig. 2, and ifthe crank g is now turned, motion will be imparted to the drivingspindle e which being connected with the hub 0 through the me dium ofthe pin u and the hub being fixed to the container by the partitions. b,the container will be rotated and the brushes moved through bristles ofthe brushes g, 9

I claim:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of acontainer for brushes to be cleaned, a cleaning member and means toimpart a relative rotation of the container and cleaning -member torevolve the brushes over the cleaning member.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of abrush container, a cleaning brushmounted near one end of the same,and'means to inject the brushes in the container into the cleaningbrush.

3. An artists brush washer comprising a partitioned rotary container, astationary brush at the bottom thereof, a stationary cover for thecontainer, hand-operated rotating mechanism mounted on the cover, meansto yieldingly hold the cover in its uppermost position and means tolimit the do Wnward movement of the cover, whereby the brushes to becleaned will be depressed into the stationary brush while being revolvedwith the container.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of abrush container, a cleaning brush having its bristles directed towardsthe container, means to depress the brushes below the ends of thebristles, and means to rotate the container.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of abrush container open at one end, a cleaning brush having its bristlesdirected towards said end, a

spindle resiliently mounted in and connected to said container, a coverfor the latter mounted on the spindle, and mechanism to rotate thespindle.

6. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, the combination with acleaning brush, of a brush container, pivotally mounted above the brush,a driving spindle resiliently mounted in the container and connectedtherewith, a cover mounted on the driving spindle, meansto rotate thelatter, and means connecting the brush and cover adapted to permit thedepression of the latter.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedmy name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VVALTHER VON VIGIER. Witnesses:

ERNST FIsoHER, JOSEPH SIMON.

